Abysuss
by FloatingCow
Summary: Dying isn't the worst thing that could happen to Noctis while he's trapped in Pitioss Ruins. No, the worst thing is he's not alone. (Warnings: Graphic violence, gore, horror, torture, death, language, etc) Halloween fic.


**Abyssus - 1. A bottomless pit, an abyss. 2. Tartarus, hell, where the wicked are confined.**

* * *

"I'll be back by morning." Noctis said as he slung his supplies for the trip into the Armiger arsenal.

The group of four stood beneath the ancient building nestled at the foot of Ravatogh. Despite the heat from the nearby volcano, an unnatural coldness emanated from the ruins and seeped into their bones.

Ignis stepped forward and adjusted his glasses - a nervous gesture if Noct ever saw one. "Will you be fine on your own?"

Noctis waved him off and started up the steps. "You worry too much, Specs. I won't be picking any fights I can't win."

His adviser sighed. "Noct, try to be careful. And stay in touch if you can."

"Will do." He paused. "I'll be back before you know it."

Prompto chimed in, "Take some pictures if you can! I wanna see what we're missing out on."

"And don't make us wait." Gladio rumbled.

Ignis observed him, gauging if he was really certain he wanted to do this.

"We will be waiting nearby."

"Good to hear. Seeya in the morning." With that the groups turned their separate ways.

As he got closer to the top, his uncertainty rose and he looked back at the others. Ignis had turned around as well and they locked eyes. The ruins cast a dark shadow over all of them, and the feeling of it looming at his back set him on edge. He took a moment to steady his breathing and memorize his friends' features.

Noctis swallowed his nervousness and turned away from Ignis to look back on the stone building. He took a deep breath and the magic that coursed through his veins allowed him to cross the unseen barrier that the others couldn't approach.

The last of the light in the sky was swallowed up into inky blackness as he reached the disc leading to the entrance.

By now, he knew what to do. Wait for the disc to light up and be granted access to what lies ahead. He had done this before.

He prayed that this place was not as dangerous as Costlemark.

Noctis waited in the unnatural silence for the disc to light up. He held a hand out in front of him and realized he could barely make it out in the darkness. Stars started appearing in the sky and he pulled out his phone to text Ignis that he was waiting to go in.

Right at 8pm, the light clicked on.

He stepped forward to press the disc and noticed it gave off a hum similar to an insect light trap. The ground beneath him began to move smoothly down and Noct marveled at the fact that this place still had a functioning elevator.

Once the platform reached the bottom Noct swallowed the lump in his throat. There was a set of vicious, spiked traps blocking his entryway.

The beds of spikes were attached to a pair of moving blocks. The spikes themselves were long - nearly half his height - and the tips burned so bright they glowed red.

This was no big deal for him really. They were moving up and down at a slow enough rate that he could easily pass under them. But just the thought that he _could_ be skewed by the molten red spikes made him extra cautious.

He pulled out his phone and noticed that the already poor phone connection was nearly non-existent. Noct held his phone higher and when it finally got a bar of reception he was on his tiptoes against the furthest wall of the elevator.

He sent off a quick text to Ignis saying ' _I'm in._ ' and looked back towards the traps.

Despite himself, he felt some excitement. He would watch action movies with Prompto where the heroes would find ways around traps very similar to these. When he got back, he was so going to rub it in his friend's face.

He stood in front of the first block of spikes and timed both of them. He took a deep breath and charged through, the spikes missing him by a mile.

Noctis looked back on the traps and let out a relieved laugh. He put his hands on his hips and stood up straight, feeling more confident about his ability to handle this new dungeon.

He continues onward, ignoring the strange humidity that seems to cling to him like a second layer of skin. Ascending the ramp, he finds his breath taken away at the sight of the open chamber before him.

The floor of the atrium seems to be suspended over an endless pit of darkness, and the ceiling as well continues endlessly upwards. Rust-colored stains seep from the walls and trail down the stairs, and Noctis runs his fingers through one of them.

It smells of rust and oil, but his mind tries to trick him into thinking that it smells like old blood and disease. He wipes the stain back off on the wall and glances around the rest of the dark room.

Pillars and rods adorn the chamber and massive blocks slide back and forth with a rhythmic pattern. The place is devoid of all life but noise echoes out from all around him.

It sounds like a living, breathing _thing_ despite being so very dead.

One statue(Titan?) stands across from him holding back an ornate door, and another(a daemon? Ifrit?) is imprisoned in a cage of iron. Noctis draws his gaze back to the door, and while he notices it has the same design of those he's seen in other dungeons, he knows this place out-dates all of them by a long shot.

Noctis decides that if he wants to continue he will have to find a way through that door. He lets himself wander the chamber for around an hour, surveying all its features and picking up any of the items scattered around.

Oracle Ascension coins, as well as a few ancient restoratives and other strange items, appeared to have been haphazardly thrown about the place.

Discs similar to the one at the entrance were scattered around the area, and he bets that one of those is the key. He looks towards the one inside the cage with the daemon, figuring that it must be the key. He sighs and turns towards the building-size stone sliding back and forth next to him.

Catching sight of an opening in the wall, Noctis waits for the massive stone block to move out of the way before dashing in. Another block slides in front of him and he waits again for it to move before dashing to the other side.

A narrow hallway greets him, and he thanks every Astral listening that his flashlight was on because it lights up a section of the floor that gives away to nothing but endless darkness.

He jumps it and the next empty section easily, before turning around and dusting off his hands, "Cake baby."

Continuing further, he climbs a ramp and takes a turn, stumbling a step back at when the face of a dead man greeted him.

The face was carved into a hematitic monolith, the half-lidded eyes and mouth glowing an eerie red. Noctis cautiously circled the monolith, taking note that the barrier preventing him from moving forward was producing the same glow as it was.

Figuring the only way to do that was to destroy the monolith, Noctis reaches to pull the Mace of the Fierce from the Armiger to do just that. He frowns when it feels like the weapon has to fight through the humidity just to materialize in his hands.

It almost feels _detached_ from the air around it.

"Great. Just great." Noctis mutters.

He swings the Royal Arm forward and the monolith crumples inward with a metallic screech. Several more hits and it disappears with the barrier in a flash of red light.

Working his way higher up, he takes a moment to pause and observe his surroundings from this new vantage point.

Movement from across the chamber catches his eye.

It looks like a flying strand of DNA, but it is too dark to tell for sure what the creature is. Noctis lifts his phone up to take a picture of them, groaning when it comes out so distorted that it looks like mud had been smeared across the lens. He puts his phone away and takes one last look at them.

Noctis muses that they might just be bats with good choreography before looking for the next path.

He locates one of the discs partway down a slick ramp. Sliding down, he triggers it and phases at the bottom so he doesn't hurt himself with the quick descent. Another disc which had been glowing a burning orange, switches to pale white.

The next part takes him several tries.

By triggering the second disc, it would release the massive iron ball blocking a staircase. Unfortunately, the ball would bounce back into place if he didn't squeeze by quick enough.

After multiple failed attempts, he manages it and climbs the staircase leading into an adjacent chamber. Noctis works his way around more of the sliding blocks and iron spikes and finds himself on top of the daemon's cage.

Pressing the disc, he finds himself and the cage being moved upwards. Another of the dead-faced monoliths block his way, and with a few hits from the Mace, he destroys it and the barrier it was producing.

He sees the pair of discs that trigger the massive iron ball, and figuring that was the next piece of the puzzle prepares to jump the gaps that separate them.

Lining up his sight on the column, he builds up speed to make the jump.

His footing slips on the stained iron floor.

Noctis doesn't even have time to think about warping back to the ledge (let alone _if_ he could even warp here), before he finds himself back on the ledge with an overwhelmingly loud and similarly chilling _thrum_ ringing through his head.

He turns to look where he came from, where the monolith had been just before, and then back to the column in front of him.

Doubt about what really just happened begins to plague his mind.

He hadn't even really fallen all that far, certainly not far enough to even _rationally_ realize he was falling. Noctis had even phased further distances than that, it was not too far-fetched to think he had just phased back to the ledge.

He hopes he isn't fooling himself.

Swallowing back down his hesitation, he continues successfully this time, jumping the column and triggering the discs.

The iron ball doesn't bounce back this time, instead rolling over and being stopped by a wedge just in front of the daemon statue. An orange-glowing disc is within jumping distance of the iron ball, and the iron ball within jumping distance of the daemon.

He thinks he knows how to work this next part of the puzzle.

Trekking back to the daemon statue, Noctis jumps upon its back and then across to the iron ball. The disc glows within reach.

"That's the trick." He smiles.

A deafening crash rumbles out as he presses the disc, triggering a massive wreaking ball to knock the head from Titan's statue clear off its shoulders.

"Whoa!" Ducking behind the iron ball, Noctis waits until all the rubble is clear before checking to see the damage.

The head lays upright on the floor, almost peering in Noct's direction and he tries not to avert his eyes in guilt. All that remains of the statue's body is a single arm, which remains in the same position still with the appearance of keeping the door closed.

Wandering closer, with a majority of the statue gone, Noctis can continue up to the arm and possibly reach the disc that lays above the ornate door.

Doing just that, he reaches the remains of Titan's statue. He hefts himself up onto the shoulder and carefully steps out onto the arm.

Stretching as far as he can, his fingers press into the disc just enough to trigger it.

He hears a switch being released and has just enough time to duck back behind the arm as the iron ball directly across from the door shoots out like a cannon, effectively breaking it down.

Stagnant air whooshes out, the sound like that of a beast's dying gasp.

It brushes through his hair and seeps through his clothes, sending a chill down Noctis's back, before quickly dying out. Noctis slowly descends back down, stopping before the doorway.

He was hoping that the door had been holding back something that could be considered treasure, be it gold or Royal Arms. What lies beyond the doorway before him, however, is just the beginning of this dungeon.

Having already spent several hours in here, Noctis decides to check in with Ignis before he continues any further. He takes the time first to backtrack his steps and collect any of the items he missed.

Once finished, he heads back to the top of the stairs. Suddenly become acutely aware that the open door is to his back, his heart rate climbs and he turns around.

His mouth becomes dry at the feeling of _being watched_.

Blue eyes wander the atrium in hopes of spotting the source of the feeling. The feeling dissipates soon enough however, and the paranoia Noctis was feeling settles down.

He gives up, thinking it was just the ambient feeling of being in this place that was setting him on edge. Noctis takes one last glance in the direction of the door, but his eyes trail up and -

There's a shadowy figure standing there.

Noct's heart beats faster, it's human shaped and tall but it's far too dark to make out any features. Although Noct is watching it, he isn't even sure if it is watching _him_. The vague figure remains unmoving as Noct squints in its direction.

It is just standing there, in the far corner above Titan's shoulder, and he shines his light towards it. From this distance, however, the light doesn't come anywhere close to reaching it.

Noctis takes a few steps closer and the figure seeps back into the darkness as if it was never there.

"...creepy." Noctis knows better than to think it was just a trick of the light, but its appearance hadn't seemed threatening.

When it doesn't return, Noct releases the breath he was holding. Collecting his bearings, he works his way back to the entrance's elevator.

He stands in the far corner, surprised that he has just enough signal to attempt a phone call.

He dials Ignis, knowing despite it being well past midnight the other would still be up.

Ignis answers on the third ring, the static so loud Noctis flinches. He covers his other ear hoping to hear Ignis better and shouts out into the receiver.

"Ignis! Can you hear me?"

" _I hear you, Noctis! Are you holding up alright_?" Ignis's voice came out so distorted it was almost unrecognizable.

"Yeah - yeah, I'm good!" Noctis loudly replies. He can hear voices in the background, and despite the fact that at least they should have been asleep by now, assumes it's Gladio and Prompto. Their voices are even more distorted than Ignis's, he can't even make out what they are saying. "I'm going to go explore the next room, and if I run out of time then I'll come back out - I can just return here tomorrow night."

" _Are there any daemons or monsters too dange-_ ",unintelligible noise cuts in loudly, " _-to handle alone_?" The static tosses Ignis's pitch, making it seem higher and lower at times, but Noctis is glad he at least has enough of a connection to make the call.

"No, none that I've seen at least. It's strange." Noctis lowers his voice to more acceptable volumes and looks back towards the hall leading to the atrium. Beyond the blocks of glowing spikes, the hallway seems to stretch out into the darkness forever.

"I opened the door leading out of this places's atrium." He breathes into the receiver.

" _Welcome to Pitioss."_

Noctis pauses for a moment. Ignis didn't even sound like himself at this point.

"Pitioss? Is that what this place is called?"

" _Wh-_ ", he loses Ignis's voice again, " _Pit-_ ", static, "- _not what I sai-_ ", more static, "- _ember hearing its name._ "

Ignis falls quiet on the other end, and the voices he thinks are Gladio and Prompto's become heated and almost frantic.

The static starts giving way to a high pitch squeal, and Noctis pinches the bridge of his nose. He considers just leaving the place entirely to speak with Ignis face-to-face.

The disc glows with a low buzz beside him - all he has to do is press it.

" _Did you ma-_ " Ignis's voice becomes too garbled to understand, " _-ictures_?"

"Pictures?" He thinks back to the one that looked like smeared mud. "One sec, I'll send it to Prompto's phone."

He puts Ignis on hold while he opens his pictures and chooses the one he took earlier.

"With our reception, you might have to download it to see. Nothing really showed up."

" _I have his phone here, but there is no notific-_ ", he closes his eyes at the squealing interference," _-ture messages. I will ask Prompto how to receive it when he wakes."_

Noctis pauses and his eyes flash open. In the background, he can faintly make out the noise of Prompto's phone chiming an alert.

" _Noct-_ "

The squeal suddenly becomes a roaring fire and thousands of screams. For a brief moment, Noctis thinks he hears Hell itself.

.

.

 _"̵̧̛̙̩̥̹̫̭̝̤̪̪͕͊̋̓̓̏̆͗̌͆̀̈́̒̓́͊͐̾̈̿̕̚̚͝͝_ _Y̸̧̡̰̳̲͔̪̭͙̺͎͔̪͇͓̬̩͔͓̝̲̾̇̆ͅͅơ̴̢̡͖̪̭͚͙̙̪͍̻̮̹̤̞͚͚͎̭̪̖̎̌͂̅̋̈̂̚̚ͅư̴̧̩̳̗͈̌̄͑̄͗'̷̢̨͕̥͍̳̬̪͇̘̘͔̳̱̖̗̝̮̓̆̆̈̋͝ͅŕ̸͓͖͍̮͍̪̠̤̥͗͌̽͗͝ȩ̵̧̬̟̗͈̪͖͚̯̯̤̪̰͖̦͇̉̅͜ ̵̨̼̦͚̜̝͖̻̫͚̺̠͇͚͎̺̭͇͍̼̲̳̤̟͂̀͗͌̓̓̅̒͂̓͘N̷̢͙̥͕͉̞͓͔̲̩͉̳̑͂̐̒͐̇̈́̃̔̅̈́̂̾̕̚o̷̥̞͎̞̘̽́̏̒͂̄̕͝͠t̵̛̗̱͓̀͂́̄̽̃̐̃̄͗̑̂̒̚͘͝ ̵̟̹̗̮̖̋̏̓̈́̎͗̆́̅̕̚͘͝Ä̶̢̛̳͔̠̤͉͓̝̤̫̩̀̀̊̀̀̇̌̐͜͠ļ̸̙͍̟̦͈͔̙̰̮̗͖͈̦̠̣̼̞̒̓̇̈́̄̓̓̋̆̀͂̐̉̕ǫ̴̧̳̰͙͍̘̦̤̦̤̫̣͈̯̙̲̤̼͆̿́̓̅̿̊̈́͂̆̓n̷͈̯̱̭̝̺̼̞͉͚̟̱̫͆̓͗͛̈̈̌́̅ę̷̨̱̗̬̱̯̝̺͚̖̥̼̱̠̫͙̥̟̯͔̌̓̓̈́̊͛̋́͌̉͐̀̆̓͗̐̌̉͗́̕̕͜͠͝͝.̵̨̧̛̣̩̟͉̱̥̼͙̦̭̞̹̜͙̻̞͚̦̘̭̩̻̈́́͜͝"̸̡̢̨̨̧̺͔̱͍̪͈͉̝̘̠͈̗͓͎̦̝̜̯̞̐ͅ_

.

.

The phone dies the same time as the disc.

...

Noctis sits and waits in the darkness for hours, hoping the disc will light back up.

After his phone had sparked and died in a rather violent display, he had attempted numerous times to reboot it. From his backup charger to even magic.

The phone remained ever silent. Same as the disc lingering just above him.

Pressing the darkened disc was fruitless, the elevator was moving nowhere.

Noctis was sealed in here.

Inhaling deeply, he stands to his feet. Either he would have to wait and see if the disc would light back up the next night, or-

-Or he would have to find another way out.

The atrium is just as dark as ever when he walks out into it. The open door lays before him, and he lingers at the very edge of it.

A funny feeling spreads through him, the thought that if he steps through that doorway then there was no going back.

He hesitates a moment longer, gathering his nerves, and steps through the threshold.

A massive golden globe is the centerpiece to this room, it's so large that Noct cannot fit all of it in his sight.

Making his way closer to it, he comes into contact with another of the creatures he saw flying around earlier. Up close, he can tell that the bioluminescent creature he thought was a singular organism earlier, is in fact composed of multiple smaller creatures flying in formation together.

They look like dragonflies, but they ooze daemonic auras the same way they do neon light. As Noct steps within arm reach, they scatter from their DNA shaped flight pattern.

Not wanting to stay around them for too long, Noctis makes his way into the opening of the large globe.

An unsettling pillar of red-iron spikes spins before him, making him less eager to continue on this path. He quickly makes his way around the pillar, preparing to phase if it spun too close.

Noctis takes little time to observe his surroundings before he makes his way to the other side of the globe, seeing the glow from a disc there.

The iron bars holding the core of the globe up rattle beneath his feet as he jumps to the other side and out of the globe. Activating the disc, he watches as the globe starts to spin and its opening rotates away.

Noctis stands there and waits, jumping back into the opening when it comes back around to him.

If he were Ignis, then maybe he would have been able to figure out where to go from here, but as it were he spends the next few hours trying to maneuver around the globe.

Eventually, he finds himself running along the top of the globe as it spun. Looking down into the openings as they come along, Noctis sees a disc he can jump down on to activate.

Unfortunately, it is located in a narrow, slanted passage surrounded by beds of hot iron spikes.

The ominous glow they emit is enough to make Noctis reconsider, but with no other options, he knows that he needs to continue to that disc.

He waits carefully, letting the openings come and go while he measures his jump.

If he misses, then his final resting place will be a bed of searing spikes.

Deciding it was now or never, Noctis jumps through the opening.

He cries out as he realizes his jump wasn't precise enough. Heat from the spikes rapidly rises up to meet him and he clenches his eyes shut.

But, before he can feel himself impale on the spikes, a _thrum_ courses through him.

With a jolt, he feels his heart restart and his feet touch the ground before the massive globe.

Noctis gasps out and checks his body for any wounds. Seeing none, he looks back to where had performed his poorly-timed jump.

He sits down on the ground and runs his fingers through his hair, trying to quell the shivering in them.

Despite feeling no pain, Noctis knows he just died.

Everything suddenly feels displaced as he recalls the ancient magic that forced life back into his veins and reset him to safety.

Although the magic had brought him back, he feels no familiarity or comfort from it, unlike that from his own. It's a magic that simply _exists_ , raw and primal.

Noctis doesn't trust that it will bring him back again if he fails.

Besides, the thought of falling to his death again was something he would avoid at all costs. And yet, Noctis knows he will have to make that jump again if he wants to continue forward and find an exit.

Noctis gets back on his feet and makes his way back up to the top of the globe.

Making sure he would not miss this time, Noctis makes the jump again. He lands with a roll between the beds of iron spikes and slides down onto the disc. It activates and lets loose an iron ball, allowing him a stepping stone into the next area.

He lets out a nervous laugh and looks back up through the expanse before him to see where he had jumped from.

Peaking over the opening, the shadowy figure stands there.

Noctis watches it briefly before the opening moves away and blocks it from view.

He hurriedly leaves the area, jumping over some columns and iron beams to find himself at the foot of another daemon statue.

A grand corridor expands before him. The walkway is suspended above another endless pit, with four stairways leading to more of the ornate doors.

He triggers the disc at the base of the stairs and it opens the first door on his left. Noctis hums in satisfaction of how easy that part of the puzzle was.

He quickly works his way into the room, cringing away from the heat of the many moving beds of spikes.

A pair rotate up and down on the floor in front of him, which he knows he has to jump. Another block, however, moves side to side over where his landing will be.

Noctis breathes steadily through his nose, considering if he should just go back to the entrance and wait instead of risking his life here to push forward.

He turns back to the suspended walkway and paces it up and down, looking for another way. When he finds none, he turns around to head back to the spiked death trap.

The beds of spikes move before him, the heat from them making his skin feel tight.

Noctis holds his breath and jumps. He narrowly misses the spikes from the floor, but when the one moving side to side snags his jacket he knows he is done for.

A _thrum_ later and he is standing back in the doorway of the room.

Noctis checks where he felt his jacket get caught, finding no hint of any damage or imperfections. It seemed that whatever this magic was, it was resetting his whole being, clothes and all.

Despite knowing that that would have been his death, Noctis feels relieved that he was always reset before he felt any pain.

He is strongly considering just returning to the entrance.

Glancing back at the daemon statue however, he sees the shadowy figure again. Standing by the daemon's feet, it remains placid and unmoving.

He can tell that it is definitely watching him now.

Noctis chooses to move forward rather than trying to go past that thing.

He successfully makes the jump this time and works his way around the rest of the moving beds of red-iron spikes. The blocks move with the ferocity of a dog chewing a bone, and lest Noct want to end up seared gristle, he makes his way through them with extra care.

It's not enough to stop him from resting two more times.

The heat from the spikes contrasts greatly with the cool tile. Noct finds himself running his hand along the wall for balance and relief from the heat, ignoring how the occasional stains stick to his hands.

Soon enough, he finds himself on a ledge above this room's door. A disc in front of him activates the door directly across the walkway and Noct jumps back down to the staircase.

He crosses the walkway and grimaces at the sight of this room's puzzle.

Pillars of searing spikes spin wildly about, very much like the one he encountered in the globe.

Jumping through their paths quickly, he finds himself having to jump onto the pillars themselves to cross.

He falls.

And this time, his freefall lasts long enough for him to realize the danger.

Just like every time before, he resets with a _thrum_.

He knows he should be more worried (more worried that every _death_ seems to last longer before he resets), but as long as he feels no pain he can continue.

His fear of failure is dwindling. The creeping thought of _death is impermanence here_ worms its way through his mind.

Noctis tries to ignore it. He knows it won't always be like that, especially not when he leaves this dungeon once and for all.

Yet, he finds himself resetting more and more. He falls ten feet in this room, and twenty by the time he reaches the next. By the time he slides down the ramp and onto a disc, blasting the door off the last room, Noctis has already lost count of how many times he has reset.

It's not the resets that are scaring him the most, driving him to move faster.

No, it's that the figure is getting closer each time.

He wants to leave this place as soon as possible, and his haste to leave is making him reckless.

The figure stands in the center of the corridor, seeming to engulf all light like a black hole would.

Unwise to approach it, Noctis doesn't even acknowledge that it's there. Whenever it makes an appearance he is quick to turn the other way.

Its presence had gone from simply existing at the beginning to downright ominous now.

Noctis quickly makes his way to the last of the four rooms, already knowing from the red glow what lies ahead.

Floating slabs circle around the room and between massive walls of glowing-hot spikes.

He hops on one, waiting to see where it takes him. Putting his agility to use, he dodges most of the spikes, only having to reset a few times.

While riding one of the slabs, the hair on the back of his neck suddenly stand on end. Turning around, the figure is at the other end of the slab from him.

Not knowing what to do, Noctis freezes at the very edge on his side. This close, Noctis can _feel_ malicious intent.

The thing glides a step forward and sends Noctis running to the side, jumping at a spiked wall with a ledge barely wide enough for him to land on.

Momentum carries him forward and he swings his arms in front of his face with a cry. Pain races through his arm as he feels the heat from being skewered for the first time.

He yanks his arm away, careful to keep his balance on the narrow ledge.

Raw blisters mark his forearm, the skin where he made contact turned black. Noctis gags and uncaps a potion.

The potion itself is hard enough to conjure, and when he pours it on his wound it only minorly makes a difference.

The black skin turns a bright red, and the pain lessens some, but that's it. The effectiveness of his magic on the potion is noticeably diluted.

Noctis looks around, trying to spot the figure. When he finds that it's nowhere in sight, he proceeds to continue, no longer wanting to be near the wall of spikes that had caused him so much pain.

Trying his hardest not to reset anymore, Noctis make his way towards the end of the room.

The last disc he needs to trigger lays in the middle of a bed of spikes. Noctis growls out.

He squeezes gently between the two walls of spikes and looks down at the bed. Heat radiates all around him. Wiping his brow free of sweat, Noctis calculates his jump.

Something murmurs behind him and he is suddenly falling towards the bed. Twisting, he sees the figure standing in the spot where he just was.

The spikes rip through his chest the same time his head hits the disc, triggering it.

Before he can register what happened, Noct finds himself back in the corridor, heart jolting with renewed life.

His breath leaves him in heaving gasps. Noctis frantically checks his chest, feeling around his body to see if he is really still alive.

If he really had died and been brought back.

There are no holes in his chest nor tears in his clothes, the wound on his arm is even gone.

Noctis crouches on the floor of the walkway, wide blue eyes absorbing the details of the pale tile in front of him.

He doesn't know if he can handle that again.

His eyes grow wet, and although no tears fall, Noctis feels regret in ever coming here at all.

Why was he such a fool?

When it became clear that there was a barrier preventing anyone without the blood of Lucis coursing through their veins from entering, Noctis should have just turned tail. He should have just stayed with the others, instead he's down here.

He should have been back ages ago, they would have certainly started searching for him by now. Would Ignis have already started the search after that foreboding phone call? Was that even Ignis he was talking to in the first place? He knows now that the voices he had heard in the background were definitely not Gladio and Prompto's. Uncertainty plagues at his mind.

Who knows if he'll ever escape? And even if he does, what's the point. It's hopeless anyways. There is no future left for him up on the surface.

A shadow, blacker than death, stretches over Noctis.

He jumps to his feet and turns around, face to face with the figure at last.

Less than an arm's reach away, it looms quietly over him. The ambient sound of Pitioss drowns away until it is nothing but a buzz in Noctis's ears.

Noctis stares into the voids of its eyes, petrified before it. The dark pits suck in all light, a blackness even darker than its body.

He sees _nothing_ in the figure's eyes, but it seems to see something in _his._

A shark-toothed, Cheshire grin spreads across its face. The darkness of its body flickers away to reveal a _true_ monster, one that even Noctis's own worst nightmares could never hope to create.

Desiccated skin covered its face, the wide smile it bore stretching it unnaturally. Limp, black hair hung in tufts from its head and its eyes roll around unfocused in their sockets. Bloated and round, its face wasn't the worst feature.

Hundreds of faces covered the entire underside of its centipede-like body. It was a horrid amalgamate of faces and limbs, demon and human alike. Unlike the gleefully smiling main head, the faces that littered its underbelly were groaning in despair or anger. None of them had eyes, and yet all of them had rust-colored tears.

Despite the lack of eyes, every single one of the faces stare straight at Noctis. The starving intensity with which they gaze at him tells him exactly what they want. Blood running cold and hair standing on edge, oh, he knows _exactly_ what they want.

He will face a fate worse than death at their hands. They want him - his very soul - to join their legion.

Reaching to materialize his weapon, panic sets in as Noctis finds that nothing comes to him. He feels as if he is floating upon an ocean, and what he desires lays at the bottom, far from his reach.

Mismatched appendages claw in the air at Noct, the Amalgamate of faces desperately trying to ease their eternal suffering for but a brief moment by sharing it with him.

Unarmed before the Amalgamate, Noctis runs.

His legs carry him to the end of the corridor, to the newest door he had opened.

The Amalgamate calls out to him in a childish voice as he jumps on the revolving door, letting it carry him to the next chamber and out of sight.

Noctis gasps as he come face to face with a massive skull adorned in horns. Realizing it is a part of this cursed place's puzzle, he wastes no time in finding a place to hide.

Finding a corner pocket out of sight he tucks away into it just in time.

A disgusting monster, it doesn't even bother trying to hide its appearance nor intentions. As long as the Regalia, and looking just as hefty, Noctis has no chance in a one-on-one fight.

He thanks every Astral listening that this thing isn't trying to be sneaky.

The Amalgamate enters the chamber, calling out his name like a child would its misbehaving pet. Noctis covers his mouth and tries to quiet his breathing. The centipede-like body chitters as it crawls along the wall, and Noctis curls further into the corner as it nears.

Although he can't see it from this angle, he hears it pass over him. Too soon to let out his breath, he remains deathly quiet.

He remains like this for nearly a day, listening to it come and go over his hiding spot.

The cold tile seeps through his clothes and into his skin, and it's not his only cause for shivering. Noctis doesn't even try to stand, fearing his knees too weak to hold him.

His stomach growls, and with no way to access any food or water from his arsenal, Noctis resorts to drinking a few of the many ancient potions that lay about.

They taste like bitter rot on his tongue, but they quiet his stomach just as the Amalgamate makes one last round above his hiding spot.

It leaves the chamber with a disheartened sigh, but Noctis waits another hour to leave his spot and check.

When he sees no sign of it, he shakily leaves the corner pocket and observes the massive contraption of this chamber.

The skull, crowned by those molten hot spikes, slides forward and back throughout the entire chamber. Affixed to a massive iron container, Noctis takes notice of a stairway leading into the bottom of the container. The entire container is covered in spikes. He sweats at the idea of being that close to the hot spikes again, but seeing no other clue, he darts towards one of the columns leading there.

He soon realizes it is like a maze. He can't directly enter the iron container, instead having to wind his way around before finding an opening.

It leaves him out in the open for far longer than he cares, but he keeps his eyes and ears out in case the Amalgamate were to return. He also takes extra care not to reset, fearing that it would draw the monster back to him.

The metallic groan of the container as it passes above him nearly drowns out all other noise, and Noctis finds himself relying more on his eyes as they scan the dark chamber. After hours of searching, he finally catches sight of the stairway leading into the iron room above him.

Just as he's dashing into the entrance of the moving container, he hears a hissing as the Amalgamate enters the chamber. Quickly pressing himself against the wall, he prays that the monster did not see him.

Noctis tries to dig his heels in as the container slides towards the entrance of the chamber where the Amalgamate crawls. Although he can no longer see it, he feels the entire container jolt as it jumps onto the skull.

The sound of it crawling to the top of the container tells Noctis that it had not spotted him, but he refuses to let his breath out just yet.

Sliding further into the moving room, Noctis can hear its hundreds of legs _tink_ against the metal roof as it crawls around.

He has no choice but to wait it out.

It is not long after that he hears it jump off as they approach the end of the chamber, but Noctis waits until the constant motion of the container starts driving him sick before he leaves it.

Stumbling out onto a walkway lining the side of the chamber, Noctis takes a moment to catch his breath. Hands on his knees, he listens carefully for the monster - not sure if it had left the room.

The chamber sounds almost quieter now, even the groaning of metal sounded like it was coming through a thick haze.

The further he continues down the walkway, the quieter all noises become until everything is complete silence.

His heart suddenly plummets into his chest and his breathing becomes the only deafening noise in his ears. Everything becomes colder than _death_ at seeing what lies at the end of the walkway.

A metallic arm protrudes from the wall, and a ghostly figure he recognized beneath it.

Her lips and skin were a pale blue, and her dress clung wetly to her body. Her blonde hair, once so beautiful, hung limp and uncared for around her face. She reached an arm forward in a beckoning motion and water droplets slid from her skin to the floor.

Noctis stood, petrified at the sight of her. Eyes wide and mouth hanging open, he forces himself to take a step back.

"L-Luna...?" He whispers her name like a prayer and she approaches him.

His instincts _scream_ for him to run, but as her hands slide around his back and up his face his body seems to become paralyzed.

She pulls him close to where their chests are touching, the cold she emanates chills his entire body.

" _I have waited forever for you."_ She rasps out broken-heartedly. With both hands on either side of his face, she leans forward and her breath numbs his lips.

Her lips meet his in a twisted kiss, part of him wants to violently tear away and the other wants to succumb to her.

Noctis fights with every part of his mind just to move, to make some action. He knows this is _wrong_ , but he is drowning in whatever spell she has put him under.

Her kiss is sucking the breath out of him, and with it he feels like he is losing something else equally as important. His blue eyes try to meet hers, but they have become gray and glossy.

Her skin starts to decay and peel away, leaving a wretched corpse underneath. Rustic sludge seeps from her mouth into his and continues down his into his throat.

The rotten taste finally spurs him into action and he struggles to break away from her. Noctis tries to claw away, her soft skin sloughing away easily under his fingernails. He manages to whip his head away, breaking the kiss, and his whole body stumbles back.

He looks back up to the corpse and notices it baring a shark-toothed, Cheshire grin.

Bending unnaturally backwards, the corpse groans and hundreds of writhing appendages burst from its body.

Noctis starts retreating backwards as the Amalgamate unfurls back into its more centipede-like appearance, empty faces on its underbelly and all.

Not wanting to stay a moment longer, he turns on his heels and runs. He clambers through the iron container, the skull on it suddenly springing to life and snapping its jaws at him. He stumbles away and his vision distorts colors and shapes around him for a brief moment. Everything feels wobbly as he bursts around traps and through the corridors back to the entrance. He enters the atrium and trips, his vision twisting the features of all the statues and pillars nearby - making them appear alive.

Horror seeps through him as he realizes whatever the monster poured down his throat was causing him to hallucinate.

He crawls to the side of the ledge and tries to purge his stomach of the toxin, heaving over the side and crying out when he doesn't see the rusty sludge come up.

His swimming vision settles nonetheless, and Noctis spits the remainder of the foul taste into the endless pit below. He shakily gets back on his feet and quickly heads towards the steps leading to the elevator.

Noctis didn't know what to do if it still wasn't working.

A skittering noise behind him has him whipping his head in that direction, and despite not seeing anything there he feels no comfort.

Turning back around he is greeted with the sight of bodies hanging from the ceiling.

He stumbles back and rolls down the few stairs he had managed to climb, sliding to a stop at the base and looking back up in panic.

Strung up by chains from the endless black above him, he can recognize the bodies. He grimaces and covers his mouth.

Emperor Iedolas. His father. Luna. The Kingsglaive's Nyx.

Their bodies dangle like puppets and Noctis feels rage and disgust at seeing them maimed like this.

He charges back up the steps, intent on finding a way to bring them down, when they suddenly disappear into pungent smoke.

The skittering noise sounds out again, closer this time and Noctis has no time to think about it before he's running back for the entrance.

Noctis bolts through the pair of spiked blocks and slams into the far wall with the disc.

The disc is still unlit.

Regardless, he slams his fist into it multiple times, pleading with it to bring him back up.

"C'mon, _c'mon!_ "

A childish laugh echoes down the hall to him, and Noctis turns and puts his back to the wall. He can hear _it_ breathing as it comes closer.

He pulls his arms up defensively in front of him and slides down the wall to the floor. The noise it makes echoes from every direction around him, deafeningly loud. It sounds like it's right on top of him, and yet he can't see it.

It's going to torture him before it's done, and after that not even death will bring him release. He will be eternally damned - cursed to suffer inside it until the end of time.

The light on the disc thrums to life suddenly and he smashes his hand against it.

Blessedly, the elevator takes him up, back in the direction of surface and out of Pitioss forever. Noctis cradles his head in his hands as he rides the elevator.

Outside air touches his face, and he bolts forward not waiting for the elevator to stop.

He runs back towards camp, the orange moon acting as the only light guiding him. Dead trees stretch towards the sky like the hands of a pale corpse emerging from a grave, and they cast long, black shadows over Noctis as he runs.

The campsite comes into view, and although it is the middle of the night, he can see his friends standing around the kindling fire pit.

Stumbling, he picks up speed and calls out to them.

"Guys!"

They turn to him as he makes his way up the haven.

"We have to get out of here, right now!"

"Noct, are you alright?" Ignis approaches him.

"We'll deal with that later, let's just get out of here now!" Noctis gasps out.

They agree and the group starts the journey back to the Regalia. Noctis can barely suppress the urge to run the rest of the way, and frequently turns his head to look back at the ruins.

The shadows of the trees stretch in his direction, seemingly clawing at him as the wind blows.

"Mind if we move a little faster, guys?" He turns towards the others, hoping the look in his eye would be enough to spur them faster.

Ignis nods at him.

"Alright."

They jog the rest of the way and arrive at the Regalia in little time. Noctis reaches for the driver's seat when Ignis places a hand on his shoulder.

"You should get some rest in the back, I can take it from here."

Noctis nods, ready to just leave this place as soon as possible.

They climb into the car and Noctis lays his head against the head rest, closing his eyes as he tries to recover from his experience in Pitioss.

He must have fallen asleep for a short while, because when he opens his eyes next they are on the highway travelling through a heavily wooded area. Trees pass by in a blur, and despite having the top up, Noctis feels exposed.

He hopes they reach a town soon.

His friends are quiet, the only noise is the sound of tires on the highway and faint static from the radio.

He expects Prompto to be looking for a channel, but his friend remains still in his seat. He wasn't even fidgeting like normal.

Noctis opens his mouth to ask him what's wrong, when he sees a light further down the road.

A lone gas station comes into view, and Noctis tells Ignis to stop there.

Ignis pulls into the station and the group gets out of the car. Noctis makes sure to stay as close to them and the light as possible - no one else was here this late at night.

A bug zapper hangs above the entranceway, and Noctis pities a moth as it flies into it.

The group walk into the station, the harsh white light and cold air making Noctis feel uncomfortable as they wander the store. He walks up to the register, and seeing no one there, calls out to the back.

"Hello?"

When no one answers, he walks back over to the other three.

"There's no one here." Noctis rubs at his eyes.

The three of them turn, fixing their gaze on him.

"Don't... you guys feel like something's strange here?" He asks cautiously.

The fluorescent lights flicker throughout the building. Noctis's eyes flash wide and he backs towards his friends.

The world starts peeling like old paint around them. The rusty liquid that stained the walls of Pitioss fill the store's light bulbs and leak in from the ceiling and windows, throwing everything into a dark, red-brown haze.

Gladio slams Noctis against the wall, wrapping both hands around his neck with a vicious snarl. Ignis and Prompto impassively watch on from the background.

Noctis claws at Gladio's iron grip as his Shield looms further over him. His insides are leaking out the scar on his chest, while the scar marking his head oozes brain matter. It drips at their feet and Noctis closes his eyes and turns his head away.

He tries to gasp for breath, but the hands around his neck allow for no air to pass. Noctis kicks his feet at the ground, trying to get enough purchase to push away from Gladio.

He doesn't even have enough air left to beg Gladio not to kill him.

Gladio's grip on his neck tightens to crushing levels, and he feels the wall behind him give way.

Noctis opens his eyes in shock, with his own hands around his throat and back in the corridors of Pitioss.

He wrenches his hands away and stares at them in shock.

"Please-" words fail him as he tries to understand what he is pleading for. For someone to come save him, for an escape make itself apparent, for his sanity not to fail him.

It doesn't matter, if anyone was listening then his plea was failing on deaf ears.

After all, the only one down here besides himself was that amalgamate of a thousand damned souls.

...

The crowned skull looks the same when Noctis returns to the chamber. As he works his way around the traps to reach the end, he glances over every now and then, sure that it moves every time it falls into his peripheral vision.

He can't hear it, but he is sure it is snapping its jaws at him. He can't hear it, but he is sure the spikes grow into thorny vines as they weave through the skull, scraping along the bone. He can't hear it, but he knows _it_ is watching him.

His skin _crawls_.

Noctis pinches the bridge of his nose, trying to come back to his senses.

A disc glows orange before him, just a jump away and he will be out of this room for good.

Noctis doesn't have the energy. The Amalgamate could be waiting for him ahead. The deeper he gets into these ruins the more difficult it becomes to avoid the monster.

He sits on the small iron platform before the disc, not quite ready for another encounter with it just yet.

His limbs seem to weigh him down, having spent days already in here and not a moments rest. Noct's head bobs, sleep calling to him.

He hadn't slept in days. Hadn't eaten in days. Noctis figures the only reason he hasn't dehydrated or starved to death is because of the rotten, ancient potions he occasionally finds.

It's not a way to live. It's been too long already, he hopes the others can forgive him. He needs to get back.

Noct wonders if the others had given up searching for him by now. What must they be thinking?

His head bobs back up again and he rests it on one of the cold iron bars holding the platform up.

Would they seriously still be looking for him now? They would be able to do nothing as long as that barrier around Pitioss stood.

What if they found a way around it though. If this place truly had an exit, would the barrier be blocking that too?

Ignis was with them though, he was smart enough to figure a way around the barrier.

Closing his eyes and swallowing his fear, the thought of them inside Pitioss was almost too much. The risks they would have to take, let alone if they ran into that monster, made Noctis sick.

And yet, tears threatened to fall at the idea of being rescued.

His name rings out through the darkness and his eyes snap open.

Noctis strains his ears, desperately hoping to hear what he thought he heard. It almost sounded like...

"Noct!" Ignis.

Noctis jumps to his feet and winds his way back through the chamber at record speed.

Had they really found a way in? He hears Ignis, but not Gladio and Prompto. Had they separated to search for him?

If they had, then the Amalgamate could very well pick them off one by one.

He speeds up at this, nearly causing a reset as he jumps from the top of the giant skull to the doorway.

Panting hard, he slides to a stop on the walkway of the main corridor. He sees Ignis walking away from him, calling out his name as he observes the surroundings.

Noctis runs closer, calling out to him and stopping a short distance away.

"Ignis!"

Ignis freezes, his body tensing up with a flinch. Noctis feels his suspicion grow.

Ignis's head twists around to meet him with a sudden _crack_. Noctis stumbles backwards, feeling like a fool for ever believing he would be rescued.

"Noctis! Noctis! _Noctis!_ " The thing wearing his friend's face chants with glee. 'Ignis's' smile stretches unnaturally, and his eyes melt out of his skull.

It suddenly screams out in pain, sounding so much like Ignis and at the same time not, and reaches around its broken neck to claw at the liquidizing eyes.

Noctis turns to flee, a demonic, scythe-like claw shooting dangerously close to his side. He turns on a dime, hoping to lose it in the nearest room.

It's the first room he entered when coming into the main corridor, the room with the beds of moving spikes.

The searing heat is already drying him out, and he builds up speed to jump the first set of beds.

He clears them, and turning around to see if the Amalgamate is following him, he has little time to dodge it as it jumps at him.

Now its true self, Noctis wastes no time as he runs further into the room, coming across another bed of spikes. He jumps it, the Amalgamate hot on his trail.

A block moving up and down lowers enough for Noctis to scramble up it, the Amalgamate snagging his jacket and tearing all but a sleeve away.

The block moves up and away from the monster's reach, and Noctis jumps to the next one hoping it will take him higher. Another, slower block prevents his escape as it slides in front of him.

Tucking his remaining sleeve into his pants pocket, Noctis watches as the Amalgamate throws his jacket into the endless pit and hoists itself up.

The slow block finally moves far enough for him to jump it, and when he does so he comes face-to-face with another block of spikes. He uses his momentum and jumps again, hoping to clear it.

Noct's stomach rises to his chest as he feels a hand wrap around his ankle and he finds himself pitching into the spikes at an alarming rate.

Turning his body at the last second, he manages to not land face first onto the bed of skewers.

Instead, they hook him in the side and leave him dangling upside down off the side of the block.

Noctis screams out, sizzling flesh reaches his nose and he hears the Amalgamate cry out as it accidentally burns too.

He looks up to see the damage and gags. No potion could ever fix this.

A bright red tip is peaking through his abdomen, along with one in his leg. Flesh bubbles and blisters around the hot iron, his skin searing to them as he's cooked inside out.

Hot blood splatters onto his face and eyes, sending him struggling to get away. The entire block shudders, causing the spike to pull on Noct's wound - eliciting another scream.

The Amalgamate is righting itself, holding its body to the side of the spikes and crawling ever closer to Noct.

Groaning under the monster's weight, the block jolts downwards and Noctis feels the iron spike in his abdomen snap lightly.

He grits his teeth against his suffering as the Amalgamate carefully comes to loom over him. Blood bubbles through his clenched teeth and froths at the corners of his mouth.

With an angry cry, he kicks he free leg out at the Amalgamate and it rocks backwards. The sudden motion brings the entire block down and it crashes into one of the moving spiked blocks.

The Amalgamate cries out, its roar comprised of the screams of all damned souls, as the moving block falls on top of it.

It thrashes wildly above him, the lower end of its body burning as it becomes pinned between the beds of spikes. The motion breaks the block Noctis is pinned on, sending most of it crashing into the abyss below.

The rest of it falls onto the platform beneath them, and as Noctis hits it he feels the familiar _thrum_ and his feet hit the floor of the main corridor.

Noctis takes a moment to gather his bearings, letting the sensation of his heart being restarted wash over him. He pants hard, his lungs burn and the phantom pains of being on fire have him clutching his chest.

Noctis looks towards the room he just came from.

Silence is the only thing coming from it.

Despite not being far from where the Amalgamate last was, Noctis cannot hear it. How long did it take for him to reset after dying? Had it freed itself already? Was it dead?

He hopes so. But when has he ever been that lucky? He resolves himself to check.

Not wanting to find the monster was still alive and just waiting around that corner, Noctis travels to one of the earlier rooms to wait it out.

If it was dead, them no harm done. But if it wasn't...

He works his way up to a ledge over-looking the room and settles onto it. From here, he can see all the openings the Amalgamate could come from.

With his back to the wall and legs dangling precariously over the edge, Noctis lets his head hang.

Fatigue pulls at his muscles. Hunger eats at his stomach.

His eyelids grow heavier and heavier with every hour that passes.

That thought scares him the most. If he falls asleep in here, it's as good as baring his neck to the Amalgamate. Defenseless in every sense.

How many days has he spent here, in Pitioss?

Noctis is deathly aware of his slipping grip on reality - a factor not caused by sleep deprivation. His lack of sleep risks his already skewed judgement.

But he knows that falling asleep is the worst possible action he could take.

Noctis takes his time descending back to the main corridor. When he enters back through the door of the room he was chased into, certainly enough the Amalgamate is gone.

The damage it caused, however, remains.

He doesn't even feel disappointment at what a fool he was for hoping that would have killed it.

Noctis walks towards the block he had been trapped on, crouching down next to the iron spike that had pierced through his abdomen.

It betrays no sign of the damage it had caused, no blood, no seared flesh, nothing. A diagonal crack runs partially through it, from the base to a third of the way up.

The tip, while now cool, was still as sharp as ever.

Noctis kicks at the crack, expanding it, and with one more kick it jostles free. He picks it up, careful of the jagged end, and eyes it coldly.

With no access to his weapons, he would just have to make his own.

Noctis ties the last of his jacket around the base, leaving just enough for the jagged tip to peak out, and attaches it to his belt.

Without looking back, Noct continues in his search for the exit.

He makes his way back through the chamber with the skull for a third time, not bothering to be as cautious and instead trying to rush through it. He is up in the very top corner of the chamber, bathed in shadows on top of broken iron beams, when he hears his name hissed out.

" _Noctis~_ " It calls out with a childish lilt.

Noctis presses himself closer to the shadows. When it becomes apparent that the monster cannot see him, and makes no sign of leaving soon, Noctis settles down onto the iron beam and observes it.

Even from this distance, as he watches it crawl around in its search, he can tell there is no sign of damage to it. The part of its body that had been gnashed between the beds of spikes appeared completely unharmed.

The observation just makes Noctis feel numb. He hadn't expected it to die, but to come out completely unharmed?

What even was this thing?

The iron stake digs painfully against his side and he shifts it into a more comfortable position.

Even if he did have access to his magic, Noctis knows he would never be able to defeat it.

He continues to watch it for hours as it meanders through the room, peaking into the iron container as it nears and checking the under walkways. The eyeless faces squirm about on its underbelly, appearing to look around for him too, and he wonders if they can even see. As they cry, they occasionally leave a faint trail of the same rusty stains he frequently sees on the walls and floors.

Noctis pulls his feet up and holds his breath as it passes under him and out of the chamber's entrance. He stands back up when he deems it safe, continuing along the iron beams towards the exit with as silent of steps as possible.

He eventually arrives back on the small platform before the glowing disc.

Despite his reprieve, he still feels exhaustion pulling at him. The jump to the disc takes more energy than he is willing to spare, and he doesn't even feel surprised when the chamber that greets him is a vast expanse of darkness.

The few features he can see make him question his sanity. The walls and floors are tilted, entire stone rooms appear to be unbound by gravity. Noctis isn't sure if he is hallucinating this or not. Dizziness engulfs his head as tries to peer out into the rest of the darkness.

Whatever lies ahead is probably not an exit.

If Noctis were even to survive this, then he would be driven mad before the end. Any longer in here and he would lose himself.

"Need to get back." He tries to encourage himself.

Jumping down into the chamber, Noctis tries to gain his bearings.

He works his way along a floor(or is it a wall?) and comes across a gap. The jump across leaves him disoriented, and as he goes to lean against this chamber's wall he notices it's made of rock rather than the normal tile of every other room. The rock is damp and cold to the touch, and feels similar to the iron used in these ruins.

Pushing himself off the wall, he follows the floor downward, coming across another gap. The jump leaves his head spinning again, everything feels so _warped_ and he has trouble telling up from down.

He wanders down a hallway so narrow it feels like Noct is being constricted by all sides. It angles down sharply and he finds himself gripping at the sides to keep from slipping.

With a deep breath, he leaves the hallway and finds several more gaps to jump. His muscles protest with every leap, and shortly with every step.

When he comes across another ledge to jump to, he ends up overestimating it and plummeting into the darkness below.

The _thrum_ restarts him and he pushes the heels of his palms into his eyes so hard he sees stars. He's back at the very entrance to the chamber.

Noctis makes his way back to where he fell, frustration adding to the bone-deep weariness he already felt.

He successfully makes it to the ledge this time and follows it downward. More gaps meet him, and he occasionally comes across sets of iron bars lined neatly together like a fence.

When he comes across a familiar set of bars, warped-looking as if something heavy had slammed against them, Noctis knows he has been turned around.

Hours of wandering these distorted rooms gone to waste, Noctis cries out in frustration.

His cry gets cut short as he hears the clinking of many feet against metal.

Noctis shoves himself into a corner, contorting uncomfortably so he's out of sight.

There's no sight of the Amalgamate, and he can't hear it any longer, but he knows it's in the massive chamber somewhere.

The chamber is so dark, it could be on top of him before he knew it. Not being able to rely on his eyes, he listens carefully as he extracts himself from the corner and works his way back to where he got lost.

The Amalgamate isn't calling out to him like before, and though he knows it's still in the chamber with him, it isn't making any sort of noise at all.

No footsteps, no breathing, nothing.

The hair on the back of his neck stands on end as he continues over the tilted floors and walls for hours still. His hand hovers constantly over the iron stake.

Noctis finds another of the smaller rooms, one so tilted the ceiling feels like the floor. He squeezes through the narrow entrance, seeing an exit almost as narrow directly across from him.

He slides down into it and walks down the short hallway, taking a moment to catch his breath. Iron bars line the edge next to him, and a tiled ceiling slopes downwards - fencing most of the area around him in. Noctis is taking note of an opening at the end when the Amalgamate crawls across the outside of the bars with a curious 'hmm'.

He stifles his gasp as his back slams against the far wall. With the hundreds of faces just on the other side of the bars, Noctis confirms they cannot see him.

The Amalgamate passes by, apparently having not seen him and Noctis backs into the small room he just came from.

Although it hadn't seen him, it must know he is nearby, he can hear it pass over the bars again and then by the entrance of the small room.

Noctis slides against the crook where the floor and walls meet. It's uncomfortable, but now that he is on the ground he can't find the energy to get back up.

Especially while the monster looms just outside.

He does find small comfort however in the fact that the openings to this room are probably too small for it to reach him.

As it passes by the bars again Noctis curls inwards and his eyes start to sag shut. He quickly forces his body to sit up and lean against the wall rather than to lie against it.

Noctis fights against the pull of sleep as it tugs at him harder than ever. His head bobs as sleep starts to overcome him, and he knows he should stand up, or at least do _anything_ to prevent himself from falling asleep.

He stops hearing the Amalgamate pass by and realizes he is laying back down. The cold tile against his face does nothing to stop his eyes from slipping shut.

Sleep swallows him for the first time in a week.

...

Light shines through Noctis's closed eyelids, and he finds himself squinting as he wakes up. Before he can locate the source of light, however, it vanishes. Noctis stands up, desperation clawing at him as he searches for where the source could have gone.

That light could have been his key to escape.

"No..." he mumbles as he whips his head around in circles. Just as he was starting to lose faith, the light returns. He scrambles towards it and quickly identifies its source. Although he didn't see any of the slabs of rotating blocks coming in to the chamber, there was one near the far end covering and uncovering a crack just large enough for him to squeeze through.

Warm daylight flooded in.

He stands in awe for a moment before a chirping, childlike voice rings through his head, sending him sprinting for the exit.

He slides into the crack, ignoring the heat of the rock on either side of him as he pushes towards freedom.

" _Noct-_ " He scrambles faster for the exit, and pulls himself free, taking gulping breathes of the musty air around him. Hazy daylight bakes his skin for what felt like the first time, the sun never being more welcoming.

" _Plea-_ " He rolls further from the crack, uncaring of the ashy gravel beneath him as it roughly digs into his arm.

Noctis flips onto his back, taking a moment to regain his breath.

"Noct!" He hears Prompto call from a distance and turns his head to see the blond crest the black hill he rested on.

Noctis laughs in relief as Prompto approaches.

"We've been searching for you." Prompto reaches out his hand and Noctis takes it. Prompto's hand is slick and uncomfortably warm, but Noct is too tired to care.

" _-ake u-_ "

"Come join us." Prompto pulls him towards the direction of camp, the warmth of his grip spreading up Noctis's arm.

" _Wake up!_ "

His arm is starting to get hot as Prompto leads him forward, his grip tight. He notices gravel still stuck to the skin of his arm and motions to wipe it off, but his arm feels grossly wet. Noctis pulls his hand close to his face.

" _Please!"_

Blood slides between his fingers and down his wrist.

" _WAKE UP!"_

A scream tears through Noct as he wakes up and the sound echoes off all the metal around him. Agony flares through his arm and pulses all the way down to his toes. Noctis blinks through the tears to look over at his arm, but instead he sees -

 _It's eating his arm._

Noctis throws his head back and screams until he feels like his throat tears(it's eating him its eatinghim its _eatinghim_ _alive!_ ). All rational thought leaves him as he starts thrashing in blind panic - kicking out and clawing the ground until his fingernails _bleed._

The _monster_ continues to work its way upward, gnawing on Noctis's arm. Its teeth are like a garbage disposal - he feels the flesh being torn from his bones and his fingers being mangled and ground into nothing.

It's pulling Noct closer and some of the desiccated hands reach out to stroke at his face. He can smell its putrid breath and he retches to the side from pain and disgust. The action makes him feel light headed and he quickly pulls out the iron stake, stabbing the grotesque creature desperately in the face and eyes.

He cries out with each thrust, but the Amalgamate refuses to release its death grip. The repeated stabs are useless, it remains completely unfazed. Its jaws start climbing further and further up his arm, his elbow is long gone and blood loss leaves his vision swimming in and out.

He stops slashing at its eyes and the gaping _screaming_ faces that adorn its body, and instead turns the stake towards his arm desperately trying to excise it from his body.

He stabs it over and over, ignoring how his skin ripped and tore and how he saw white every time the blunting tip of the stake hit bone.

Noctis claws at its _disgusting_ face and tries to tear his arm off. Flesh and sinew rip and snap with each desperate yank. With a rough twist of his body, his arm rips off audibly and the Amalgamate growls in frustration as his head falls backwards and cracks against the floor.

He tries not to lose consciousness and escape while he has the chance, but the thing's thousand arms grab at his body.

Noctis gets dragged by his feet upward, blood spilling out of the place his arm used to reside and splattering against the floor. The gaping mouths on the creature's body bite into his legs, though nothing compared to the one with the Cheshire grin, he still felt himself dying in their grasp.

He knows, once he loses consciousness, he will be eaten and suffer for eternity as part of this monster.

So, with his rapidly failing energy, he places the stake under his jaw -

"Fuck you."

and thrusts upwards into his head.

...

Noct is standing before a wall taller than his eyes can see and bearing a set of narrow stairs when his vision returns to him. Gentle, ruby light dances at the edges of his vision.

While his clothing is tattered and his shirt sleeve is gone, his wounds have been restored. Blood - _his blood-_ paints the iron stake.

At his feet lie the shattered remains of Carbuncle's statuette. Noctis falls to his knees and cups his hand around the scattered pieces. Tears spill freely down his cheeks and he bows his head, letting the cool tile of Pitioss seep into his skin.

Curled up on this cold walkway, with a massive wall before him and near-endless black behind him, he can feel himself slipping. Breath struggles to reach him and despite being out of immediate danger he finds his vision tunneling.

He clenches a hand over his mouth and whispers out, "Carbuncle!"

There is no reply.

"Carbuncle!" He grieves.

A loneliness like no other blankets Noctis and he curls further into himself. His body shudders violently, and shallow gasps for air leave him hyperventilating.

Drowning on air in the depths of Pitioss. If only that would let him stay dead.

Would the others make this place his Royal Tomb?

Choked laughter rings out around him, and it takes Noct a moment to realize it's coming from him. He pounds his fist against the floor next to the remains of Carbuncle's figurine, careful not to disturb the pieces.

Noctis pulls his other fist against his lips, and his near hysterical laughter quickly dies into sobs.

This place was driving him mad.

Rubble the size of him suddenly crashes around him and sends him staggering to his feet.

The fragments of Carbuncle's statuette fall into the endless pit below.

" _No!_ " Noctis cries brokenly and reaches over the side.

A hiss reaches his ears and he whips his head up. The Amalgamate clings to the rock wall opposite the narrow stairs, its face visibly upset that it was now separated from Noctis by a massive gap.

It picks up another chunk of stone, preparing to send it hurtling at Noct. It whizzes by his head and shatters against the wall, pelting Noct with debris as he runs into the opening for the stairs.

The Amalgamate grumbles in frustration, unable to cross the gap or fit through the narrow passage between the walls.

Noctis stumbles as he climbs the steps, unable to see how far they go.

Looking up, the walls on either side of him seem to continue forever as well. Noctis slows his climb.

The bone-deep exhaustion he had been feeling before he had fallen asleep has dimmed somewhat. It was still there, the ache and fatigue, but Noctis could still ignore its pull for a while longer.

With a huff, he continues his climb with no end in sight.

For a brief moment, Noctis lets himself hope that these stairs will take him to the surface. A dim light shines faintly from above, and Noctis picks up his pace.

It's not the surface.

A massive, stone statue towers across from him. His feet are heavy as he comes to a standstill before the life-like statue.

It's Eos.

The platform he stands on is only chest high to her, and her eyes of stone look down at him.

Chains shackle her here, in this deepest part of Pitioss.

She was trapped. Just like him.

Why would she be here in the first place, with her arms chained above her head, and not upon the surface where she could shine radiantly?

She wasn't supposed to be here. If she could never leave, why did he think he could?

Why bother continuing?

There was no exit. There would be no point in having a tomb with an exit. Noctis was only diving deeper into the abyss.

He steps closer to the edge, so close that his toes hang over.

Maybe, under her merciful gaze, he would be able to end his life permanently this time.

Looking into the endless pit below, he imagines jumping from the top of the Citadel.

Would he fall even further than that if he jumped from here? What if there was no end, and he only died from starvation or dehydration? What if he fell forever?

The soft echoes of a distant giggle reach his ears.

It was better than the alternative.

Noctis steps from the ledge, the darkness of the pit engulfing him completely as he plummets.

His feet touch back down on the platform before Eos.

Noctis looks up at her, tears blurring his vision.

"Why?"

Voice breaking and lip quivering, Noctis feels oddly betrayed by this facsimile of his patron goddess. He falls to his knees before her.

Before Noct can act on his rage and grief, he catches sight of what she is holding.

It's a weapon.

The position she is holding is not one of passive entombment, her arms are not bound together.

No, her chains are broken and she is poised to strike a deathblow upon any enemy. She is still fighting.

So should he.

Noctis takes a moment, bowing his head so his hair curtains the statue from view. Struggling to find the resolve to continue, Noct braces an arm against the platform preparing to stand.

"Noctis..." His father's voice calls from behind.

His blood runs cold at the familiar voice, and he doesn't dare to turn around.

"I'm disappointed in you, why did you give up?" It's a broken sound, coming from behind with all the pain Noct had ever wrought upon his father.

Noctis knows better by now.

"Never again."

And he leaps, claws swiping through the air a hair's breadth from his back.

He lands upon Eos, ever so grateful of her mercy as the statue falls back and away from the Amalgamate.

It screeches in rage, finally having grown tired of its cat-and-mouse game. Coiling back and forth on the platform, Noctis can tell it's judging the distance it can jump.

He climbs up the statue's arms as it jumps, causing the statue to shudder under its weight. Not looking back to check where it landed, Noct jumps onto her weapon.

It is a sword she is holding, and Noct jumps onto the blade. He slides down it, listening as the roars of the Amalgamate grow further and further. His fingers scrabble to find purchase on the wet metal, the rate of his fall rapidly increasing.

He gasps out when nothing stops his fall.

The floor comes up to meet him all too quickly, and when he hits it he hears bones crack.

His arm radiates pain and he clenches it close to his chest, aware that every time he breathes it feels like his lungs are scratched.

Too caught up in his pain, it takes him awhile before he notices the floor moving upwards.

It's an elevator.

Noct doesn't let his hopes up that this will take him to the surface.

It continues up and up for what feels like ages, the iron plates on the wall passing by so fast they blur.

Noctis pulls one leg underneath him, and then the other, and shakily stands. He waits in the center of the elevator as it continues its rapid ascent, and Noct realizes how deep in Pitioss he really had been.

The elevator slows to a stop and Noctis finds himself facing a metal hallway with a low ceiling.

The clicks of his feet against the floor echo off the walls as he walks. Scattered items lay about on the floor, but Noctis pays them no mind.

Letting his arm hang at his side, Noctis has only one goal in mind.

The chamber before him is host to dozens of warped iron beams. Broken and twisted, they fill the room like blood vessels.

A horrifying screech, so painfully loud Noctis has to cover his ears, resonates from behind. A boom shortly follows it, and the elevator bursts upwards into broken pieces.

Claws reach out from the rubble as the Amalgamate tries to dig its way through the broken elevator. The haunting groans of the faces permeate through the rock, spurring Noct to jump onto the nearest iron beam he can see.

He balances his way across it, jumping to the next just as the Amalgamate pulls itself free and charges down the hallway towards him.

It skids to a stop just before the edge, reaching out like a spider would to grab onto an iron beam.

Noctis hastens his careful steps, for one misplaced step and he would fall to his death but a step too slow and he would be overtaken by the monster.

He jumps from beam to beam, following them up through the chamber. The Amalgamate follows closely behind, its heavy body causing some of the iron beams to snap and fall away.

Noctis makes his way around another daemon statue, and the beam sways beneath him as the Amalgamate lands on it.

The mismatched appendages that make up its legs squirm like a centipede's as they itch to catch him. He quickly jumps to the next beam, momentum nearly sending him off the side and to his death.

Noctis makes his way up, a narrow iron hallway lays just ahead, small enough to certainly stall the Amalgamate's pursuit.

The beam suddenly sways dangerously, sending him crashing face first into it. Pain lances through his ribs and his breaths become wheezes.

He pulls his ankles up just as the Amalgamate claws down at them, tearing through the metal. Noctis gets back up on his feet and slips into the hallway, not stopping as the Amalgamate cries out again.

The screech of it clawing through the metal is deafening as he works his way to a wider iron hallway.

An ornate black and gold door stands tall at the end, and Noctis activates the disc before it to open it.

The chamber adjacent to the atrium greets him.

The groan of metal as it tears tells him the Amalgamate has worked its way through the gap, and Noctis jumps to the side, following a trail of blocks around the back of the room.

He's running up a slick iron ramp when the Amalgamate comes skidding around the corner behind him, main face an expression of rage.

It pounds its limbs against the ramp, knocking Noctis off his feet and sending him sliding down to its gaping maw. He pulls out the iron stake and stabs it into the creature's forehead to stop himself from becoming pinned.

It frowns at him, and Noctis has a split second to roll back to his feet and sprint back up the ramp. He dashes around the corner, the hallway in front of him bearing beds of hot spikes on either side.

He continues to run through, the spikes buying him precious time as the Amalgamate tries to work its way through them. Taking the corner and climbing an iron pole, the atrium reveals itself beneath him. He quickly makes his way above it, jumping across columns and over beds of spikes before finding himself back in the adjacent chamber above a column capped by a glowing disc.

The Amalgamate watches him from beneath it.

He jumps to the disc, opening one of the ornate doors enough that it acts like a stepping stone to a set of iron beams.

Beneath him the monster gnashes its teeth together and pushes against the column, dislodging him. He grasps onto the edge, but the column starts to sway.

The Amalgamate screams as the column breaks, pelting it's body and giving him the chance to ride it down and away from the monster.

Swiping at him, the Amalgamate is hot on his heels as he sprints for the door.

He works his way to it, jumping the gap to the beams and taking the corner to find one long, narrow beam.

Noctis runs along it, the Amalgamate coming up behind him and balancing precariously on top. Cracks run up and down it as it creaks from the strain of holding them both.

It collapses completely as he jumps to a set of stairs, the Amalgamate jumping after him.

A disc glows beautifully against the wall at the top of the stairs, and Noct pumps his legs harder as he climbs them.

The groans of the faces are growing frantic, screaming and crying out for him.

The disc is just ahead.

His fingers brush it and the floor lifts rapidly beneath him, the Amalgamate clinging on.

Noctis cries out and backs to the very edge of the elevator as the Amalgamate scrambles to pull itself up.

The heat of its breath brushes against him, roiling his stomach as it comes over the edge.

The elevator stops.

Daylight bathes his back.

Noctis spins on his heel and runs towards the source, the Amalgamate clawing out at him, snagging into his back. Noct screams as the claws render his flesh to shreds as he tears himself away.

Fighting through the pain of the gashes against his back, he sprints to the window - to his escape.

Noctis jumps out of Pitioss and into the light, landing painfully on the stone below.

A gargling roar of pure _hate_ follows him out.

Ignoring the fire spreading through one of his ankles, Noct wastes no time in limping. Instead, he sprints down the stairs and away from the ruins, the pain of his body being pushed to the back of his mind.

The black ash provides no traction as he scrambles frantically away. His heaving lungs and failing body wouldn't stop him from his goal of escape. He wasn't planning to stop running until Pitioss had long shrunk into the distance.

He flees down the trail, the aura Pitioss emits trying to pull him back in as strong as gravity.

Something grabs his arm so he screams and swipes wildly around with his stake, nearly bisecting Ignis. His shirt is mostly ruined and there is a light nick on his chest from where Noct cut him. Ignis holds his arms up as if Noct was a wild animal and Gladio and Prompto come to a stop behind him.

Gasping, Noct's wide eyes focus on a button he had cut off Ignis's shirt - now glistening innocently on the ashy ground. Noctis's breath shudders as he studies it intently.

It was as black as the ash around it.

"Ig...nis?" His worn voice rasps out.

Ignis's shaky voice has him focusing back on his adviser.

"Noctis, listen. It's just us." Ignis's voice is gentle and soothing as he tries to calm Noctis, but he finds that the attempt invokes the opposite.

Noctis takes two wobbly steps back and brings the iron stake in front of him. Tears stain his cheeks and he feels on the verge of hyperventilation when he loses his footing in the black ash and falls backwards.

He screams again and feels the stake knocked from his hands. Someone pins him and he thrashes as violently as he can. His finger claw at the ground as he tries to reach for his only weapon, but when he sees it get kicked further from him he clenches his eyes shut.

His whole body shakes, from fear to exhaustion. Noctis can't bear it anymore. A cry like that of a dying animal tears out of his throat.

Everything else is oddly quiet.

He feels hands on either side of his head and he is made to look up - expecting to see a monster. What he sees instead is Ignis, eyes sad and wet.

"Noct, we need to go."

He looks over to see Prompto - a terrified grimace on his face and gun trained towards Pitioss, and then to Gladio - restraining Noct's hands and looking as if _he_ was the one being hurt by it.

They looked sad too.

Noct starts nodding feverishly and feels his hands released. Ignis pulls him up and the group hurriedly make their way to the Regalia.

"Lestallum." Noctis says as he slams the door behind him. Blood stains the leather of the back seat. Ignis revs the engine and they take off.

"Noct, buddy, what happened?" Prompto asks, panic lacing his voice. Noct grimaces and curls inward.

Gladio leans forward in his seat, his muscles bunched in tension.

"What happened, Noct."

Noctis cranes his head as far as possible away from Gladio's looming presence.

"Don't." He replies defensively.

Gladio sits back in his seat, his hands crushing the leather in a death grip. Cold silence falls upon the group.

Pitioss sinks below the horizon.

Noctis shivers where he sits in the backseat, pointedly ignoring the looks from the other passengers. He counts every second of their trip, making sure to keep all of them in his sight.

A single gas station comes into view, and Ignis glances back at him through the rear-view mirror.

"We need to treat your wounds, Noct. Let us stop here for a moment."

"Keep going." His icy gaze locks with Ignis's.

"You're hurt."

"Keep going." Noctis almost snarls out. His tone is enough to keep the rest of them quiet.

He has to keep himself from constantly checking behind him, to check and make sure Pitioss is far behind them.

He will never be far enough away.

Adrenaline still courses through his body, keeping his fear alive and raw.

Knees pulled up to his chest, he clenches and unclenches his hand, desperately wishing he still had the iron stake.

Prompto, from the front seat, takes notice of the blood crusted under Noct's fingernails and in the creases of his palm. Noctis's knuckles are split and raw. He pulls out a cloth and soaks it in a potion before turning around to face Noct.

"Here." Prompto says as he reaches to take Noct's hands.

The action sends Noct screaming as he thrashes away, snatching his hand back and covering his ears. Ignis nearly swerves off the road.

Blue eyes blown wide, Noctis trembles under the gazes of the others.

Prompto bites at his lip and fights back tears.

"'Kay, okay... Noct I won't." He tries to soothe.

Ignis and Gladio watch the entire exchange, fear and worry clear on their faces. The fear Noct was exuberating was starting to seep into all three of them.

They all are acutely aware of how Noctis watches every shadow and every corner, and of every minute movement they make. For fear of him lashing out, they make every intention clear. From Gladio wiping sweat off his brow, to Ignis changing gears, and to Prompto bouncing his knee nervously.

It felt like they were dealing with a cornered animal, and with how Noctis was coiled in the back, they may as well have been.

They drive the whole day, and with each hour that passed Noctis grew more agitated. He was keeping a close eye on the sun.

It was trailing lower in the sky, stretching the shadows.

Speaking up since for the first time since his exchange with Prompto, Noctis asks, "Will we arrive in Lestallum before night?"

Ignis flicks his gaze up into the rear-view mirror, meeting Noct's wide eyes.

"Yes, we will be getting there shortly before the sun sets."

Soon enough, he can see the glow of city lights.

It's only as they are pulling into Lestallum, bright lights and large crowds, does Noctis allow himself a moment to breathe.

Teeth bared in a grimace as he scans the city streets, Noctis lets Ignis check them into the Leville.

The sky darkens in hue as they bring their belongings up to the room. Noctis walks to the window, peering out it to look at the dark alleys, scanning them for signs of shadows darker than they had any right to be.

He sees none, but closes the curtains anyways and turns to look at the others as they bring up the last of the bags.

"We need to treat your wounds Noct, I can't let this go on any longer." Ignis steps up, eyes critical.

Noctis shies away.

"I can treat them myself."

"Noct, look at yourself!" He actually sounds mad, and Noct refuses to meet him eye-to-eye. "Can you not realize the severity of your wounds?"

He can, it's taking him everything he has just to stay standing.

"Noct, listen to Iggy. We need to get you help." Gladio steps forward and Noct steps back.

"Back off!" He wheezes out.

"What happened to you?!" Gladio's eyes are hard and demanding. He takes another step forward and Noct's back is to the wall.

"What is wrong with you?" Gladio tries more calmly, the fire driving him dying out at something he must see in Noct's expression.

There is no noise from the outside world in this room, just the four of them breathing. It's quiet.

"I don't know what's real anymore." He says it on a single, quiet breath. His voice is broken to his own ears.

Gladio pulls Prompto's gun from the Armiger, sending Noctis scrambling back and Ignis and Prompto calling out "Gladio!"

"If you can't trust us to keep you safe then we might as well be dead." Gladio holds the gun out to Noctis, and he takes it with shaky hands.

"If I'm not real, then I can't protect you. I've failed you already. Kill me if it will make things right." Gladio angles the gun in Noct's hands, placing the barrel snug against his chest.

Ignis and Prompto fall strangely quiet.

Noctis, wide eyed as he stares down the point where the tip meets Gladio's chest, shivers uncontrollably. The gun shakes violently in his grasp, and he fights just to keep his knees from falling out beneath him.

His hands are what eventually give out, falling away and letting the gun slip from his grasp. It clatters to the floor before shimmering away, returning back to the Armiger.

Noctis feels his body start to fail him and he tips forward, Gladio catching the back of his head and bringing it into his chest for a rare hug.

Forehead against the space the gun sat moments ago, Noctis feels his tears start to fall freely.

Prompto reaches out to him, and when Noctis makes no move to pull away, he joins in on the hug too.

Ignis supports him as his knees start to fail, and they break away from the group as Ignis leads him to the bathroom. He guides him to the tub and helps him sit on the edge.

They peel his ruined shirt off him, and he can hear Gladio and Prompto hiss at the sight of his mangled back. Although he can't see Ignis's face, he knows he is probably disturbed by the sight too.

Ignis holds his hand out and Prompto places a damp towel in it. Careful not to touch his wounds, Ignis wipes down all the grim and blood.

Once he checks the wounds for any foreign objects, he sets bandaging Noct up, using potions to kick-start his healing.

Ignis asks him to breathe, relief washing through him when he hears no wheezing sound.

"The potions have set your ribs, but you're very likely to damage them again if you're not careful. Nothing but bed rest until you're better." He claps Noct gently on the shoulder.

"That... doesn't sound too bad."

Ignis stands and motions to help Noct up too, but Noct instead asks, "Actually... mind if I take a shower?"

The exhaustion is clear in his voice, and Noctis can tell that Ignis is skeptical of his ability to be by himself at the moment.

"Alright," he assents regardless, "if you are feeling up to it. Make sure not to get the bandages wet."

Noctis nods, and Gladio and Prompto step away from the room to let Ignis out but he hesitates.

Ignis tilts his head down, and the glint from the bathroom light on his glasses prevents Noct from reading his expression.

"Noct..." Voice unsure and unsteady, there is a question lurking there. Certainly one that his friends have been waiting to have answered.

One that Noctis can't give.

"I can't, Specs," his voice breaks and he glances away, unable to face the looks the others are giving him, "I can't."

Ignis makes a noise that Noct can't decipher and steps out of the bathroom, closing the door behind him.

Like Noctis, Ignis tended to retreat whenever he was hurt.

Noctis steps into the shower, turning it on. Numb to the water running over him, he watches the drain as streaks of red swirl into it.

He thought he would cry, now that he was isolated. Instead, as he braces his arms against the shower wall for support, all he feels is _nothing_.

Noctis leaves the bathroom feeling drained. The murmurs of his friends from across the door reach his ears and he can hear the concern they carry.

He isn't sure if he is comforted by the fact that they are merely a call away.

Noctis towels his hair dry and tosses it on the floor. He sits down on the edge of the bed, looking out at the door.

When no one enters, he scoots further into bed, checking to see if all the lights were on before he finally laid back. His eyes almost drift closed to the sound of his friends' conversation - one about him from the few words he could make out.

Something shimmers at the corner of his, causing him to sit back up and look towards the nightstand where the light came from.

The lost button, black as ash, glistens innocently.

Noctis throws his head back and _screams._

* * *

 **Thank you for reading!**

 **I hope you enjoyed! Please, let me know your thoughts, comments, and I'll talk to you all day about Pitioss (or FFXV in general).**

 **I originally posted a prompt on the kinkmeme about Noct being chased slender-man style through Pitioss. That was way earlier this year, and it still won't leave me. I decided I wanted to fill my own prompt. I started working on this late July, and now it's finally,** _finally,_ **out.**

 **However, I do want to shoutout to the person who did an artfill for my prompt. They really inspired me with the monster, so a big thanks to them. You can find the prompt and their art on the pinboard at ffxv kinkmeme, just type in Pitioss and it will come up as Noct not alone in Pitioss and the Artfill "The Faceless One" will be under it.**

 **My cool sister helped edit (thanks a billion!) and come up with the title, but if anyone notices any mistakes, please let me know! I did a bunch of editing after she took a look at it.**

 **Thank you guys again for reading! I really appreciate you guys sticking through 16,000+ words to reach the end. Thanks, and that's all!**

 **Happy Halloween!**


End file.
